I just finished reading Fortune's Children about the Vanderbilts. I was planning to be in Connecticut, but didn't have the time to go to New Port, RI, to see the Victorian Mansions built during the Guilded Age. Instead I found the Lockwood Madison Mansion about 30 minutes from where I was staying in CT. Turns out that before the ...

Afte passing trough the somewhat pedestrian entry/gift shop, we were stunned by the beauty of the three story Rotunda of the Mansion. Two balconies surround the sight, leading into authenically furnished rooms and others waiting to be renovated.
The imported Italian wood working artisans created a grand stairway, wooden walls and fireplaces ...